


Juliet

by milkshakesandmurders



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chance Meetings, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Single Parent Jughead, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:58:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkshakesandmurders/pseuds/milkshakesandmurders
Summary: Betty is offered a new job; which means a new start.Sometimes new starts can bring some exciting and unexpected obstacles.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> This has branched out from a one-shot I did a little while back; "It's The Hair" - It's not long 500 or so words. I would ~strongly~ suggest reading that before starting this. I'll link below.
> 
> xx

Link:

_[It's The Hair](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121881) _

 

* * *

 

Betty walked into The Riverdale Register.

It was very different to her current work place surroundings. It felt very, suburban. There were no cubicles with high partitions. There were definitely no multi screen computers either. The carpet looked worn. Not dirty; just worn. She could tell that a lot of people had walked in and out. She started imagining the stories that people would have told.

Betty smiled to herself, as she turned around and looked at the door. She jumped at the sound of foot steps coming up behind her, soft footsteps.

 

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth Cooper?" The quiet female voice came from behind.

 

Betty turned around, "Yes, but please, call me Betty. Only my dad calls me Elizabeth, and that's when I'm in trouble." She smiled at the lady in front of her, and reached out to shake her hand.

Betty noticed immediately the kindness of this strangers smile and familiarity of her eyes. She was definitely a small town person.

 

The woman shook Betty's hand. "I would suspect that I'm the person you're looking for," Betty nodded, "Wonderful, because Betty, I think I've been waiting for you for a long while now," the woman gestured Betty to follow her to the small office at the back.

 

As they walked into the quaint space, Betty sat down on the chair in front of the desk; which she noted was covered in a lot of paper. The woman sat down in the chair on the other side of the busy looking desk.

 

"I should probably introduce myself, seeing as I feel like I know a lot about you," the woman smiled at Betty, yet again, "I'm Nancy, and I used to own this place. I'm not sure how much your boss has told you about the current situation..." Nancy was squinting her eyes, looking for an answer.

 

Betty shook her head, "Barry didn't say too much, if I'm going to be honest. He mentioned that the current owners of The Riverdale Register had sold, but that's about it. He assumed that would be enough for me to come have a look, and, well-" Betty shrugged, "-here I am."

 

Nancy nodded, "my husband and I have owned this newspaper for a lot of years, Betty," Nancy sighed, "for a long long time, this place was our pride and joy. John and I never had a family. And don't get me wrong, I'm okay with that. I have nieces and nephews that I absolutely adore. I would do anything for those kids. I love them and treat them as my own children," Betty would immediately tell how much Nancy valued family and passion, it made her heart swell, "but John," Nancy had lowered her eyes, "he's not well. And he hasn't been well for a little while now. But it's come to the point where I need to be with him, he needs me."

 

Betty could feel a wave of sadness come over her. Her boss wasn't even close when he mentioned the rumours that had come about for the reason of the sudden sale of the paper. She nodded, which was her signal to let Nancy go on, but only as much as she wanted to.

 

"Selling this place has been one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. But family comes first, you know. John told me to do what I think is right, and for me, this is what is right. Letting go, I suppose," Nancy sighed, and looked at her surroundings, "I pitched the idea to a very very dear friend of mine, she's been absolutely phenomenal and supportive during this entire transition. She offered to take the place off my hands. It all officially changed hands a couple of months ago."

 

Betty could feel her mind ticking over, which Nancy picked up immediately.

Betty's poker face was obviously not up to scratch.

“I can see you’re thinking,” Nancy smiled, “which I can tell, is already the journalist in you trying to figure what this means. Would I be correct?”

“Am I that obvious?” Betty questioned, slightly worried about what Nancy’s answer would be.

“Not at all, dear. I remember that face when I was your age. But I’ll explain, and try to see if I can answer the questions that are swarming around in that head of yours. Alice is woman that has bought this place. Now, Alice isn’t a journalist, by any means. She used to be the school principal of Riverdale High, however, she retired a number of years ago. She’s been doing a lot of community work. Alice believes in Riverdale. You could almost say, Alice is Riverdale.   
But, I’m rambling now. The truth is; my husband and I likely won’t be around here for too much longer. My heart hasn’t been in this newspaper for a while. Alice knows that. Alice knows that this paper is one of the many beating hearts of Riverdale. And if that heart stops beating…” Nancy stopped, she looked at Betty, hoping that she would understand, but already knowing she could - but needing to confirmation.

 

“Riverdale will eventually-.” Betty looked down as she started fiddling with the hem of her jumper. This was going to be a massive job. Essentially reviving this town, bringing it back to life in the form of a newspaper. Betty suddenly felt a sense of urgency, fear and responsibility wash over her.

 

"Exactly. Alice doesn't want to physically run this newspaper. She wouldn't know how, to be honest," Nancy giggled and slightly cringed at what was possibly the thought of Alice running the show, "she wants someone that is passionate, someone who can throw themselves into this job. Make it what it needs to be, what it used to be.  We need someone to bring Riverdale back to life, back to it's former glory, one would say. Personally, from what your boss has told me about you and your work ethic - you are what this town needs, Betty Cooper. What do you say?" 

 

Betty knew Nancy wasn't asking her if she wanted the job. Nancy was telling Betty to revive Riverdale. Nancy believed in her.

 

"When do you want me to start?" Betty didn't even need to think about it. This was something she had longed to do; without even knowing it. But all the feelings she had felt, made her heart burst, her stomach flutter and her brain thrive.

 

Betty needed this.

Riverdale needed this.

And most of all; Nancy and John needed this.

She wanted to make them happy. She felt like she had known Nancy all of her life; having only just spent 20 minutes with her. But there was something about her that resonated within Betty.

Nancy was hurting, but she had the courage to reach out, reach out and seek. Somehow Betty knew, that if she brought this paper back to where it needed to be, where it used to be, there's a part of Nancy that would be put back together. Not entirely.

But partly.

 

*

 

Betty was on her way to look at an apartment. The pictures looked, what was the word that best described it, cute. Quaint, even. Similar to the office she was just sitting in. 

She looked at an apartment a couple of days ago; the day she met the adorable Juliet and her handsome father, with the unusual name, Jughead.

 

But the apartment was bad. Betty's not even sure 'bad' is accurate enough. She had lasted all of about five minutes before she walked out, advising the real estate she was late for an appointment; and not for the fact that she was actually gagging.

 

As she got closer to the apartment, Betty noticed a woman on the phone outside. She sounded almost as angry and fiery as the flaming red hair that sat so perfectly atop her head.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE VENDOR SAID NO? DOES SHE NOT REALISE THAT THERE HAS LITERALLY BEEN THREE PEOPLE LOOK AT HER GOD DAMN HOUSE, I MEAN-" 

The woman with the flame red coloured hair turned around and was startled by the blonde haired woman standing nearby, fiddling with her handbag, obviously not wanting to interrupt the heated conversation, "Polly, I'll call you back. I have an inspection happening. Just tell her, ah, you know know what, tell her fucking nothing, I'll deal with her." She hung up and swung around.

 

"You must be Betty Cooper!" The real estate agent stuck her perfectly manicured hand out, "I'm Cheryl Blossom!"

 

Betty shook Cheryl's hand, "Yes, hello, sorry I didn't mean to-" She wasn't sure how to respond.

 

Cheryl waved her hand in dismissal, "Don't worry your pretty little head about that! Let's go inside." She motioned towards the apartment.

 

Betty nodded and started following Cheryl inside.

 

"Now, the lovely lady that used to live here recently moved into a nursing home. 90 years old though, bless. So, with that in mind, the decor is, of, a vintage variety. But that's what all the young kids are into these days, right? Vintage, retro." Cheryl unlocked the front door and motioned for Betty to walk in.

 

Betty immediately noticed how vastly different this was to her New York apartment, but she also quickly reminded herself - this was Riverdale. Small town. 

 

Cheryl, as any good real estate agent noticed, was Betty's immediate reaction. 

"What are your first thoughts, Miss Cooper?" She questioned.

 

"It's small." Betty answered honestly, "it's smaller than what I'm used to. But it's not a bad thing." She smiled in Cheryl's direction.

 

"Well, that's a good start. Follow me, I'll show you the rest of the place." Cheryl beckoned Betty to follow.

 

The rest of inspection went well; they had chatted about Betty relocating from New York - Cheryl had been shocked to say the least. She briefly explained why, a new job opportunity had come up. Betty didn't go into too much detail, although she was confident after her meeting with Nancy, she didn't care to jinx it.

The space was somewhere Betty could definitely see herself living in the immediate future. She would, however, have to get used to the wallpaper and general feel of the place - as Cheryl had made mention when they were outside. But apart from that; Betty could definitely add some touches her and there to make it her own place.

 

As they both walked outside; Cheryl was giving Betty the rundown on chatting with the landlord and the application process. 

Betty already knew she would be approved, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. Betty was an ideal applicant. Single, hard-working, no pets, non-smoker and was new to the area; therefore not many friends which equaled no crazy parties.

 

Either way, she'd find out tomorrow or the next day at the absolute latest. The landlord was keen for someone to move in as soon as possible.

 

The two women shook heads and agreed to hopefully touch base soon.

 

It was a couple of days later, Betty was back in New York when she received the call from Cheryl offering her the apartment.

Betty obviously gladly accepted, before she then made the call to Nancy officially accepting the job of running The Riverdale Register.

It was going to be a busy couple of weeks, but she was ready.


	2. two

 

It had been a massive week for Betty Cooper.

She had accepted the task that was to revive The Riverdale Register, her application for the quaint apartment got accepted and she officially handed in her resignation. Her boss wasn't surprised; he was thrilled and sad all at the same time. But Betty had kindly reminded him that was his idea for her to go to Riverdale in the first place.

 

Betty had spent the next two weeks finalizing her upcoming articles for the paper, as well packing and downsizing. Not all of her possessions would be coming with her. Thankfully she was able to sell a lot of her things, so as well as downsizing, she was also making a little bit of cash. It gave her an opportunity to rid a lot of things that reminded her of a negative headspace she had for a period of time. Between the loss of good friends and heartless flings; Betty had gone through a relatively rough patch in her life. 

 

But with thanks to a very close group of friends; they pulled her out of her rut and whisked her away for a week of good times, relaxation, no drinking and no access to the outside world. And for that, she turned a positive and life changing corner in her life.

It was soon after that weekend, she landed her job at the paper. And now here she was, packing up her life and moving to Riverdale on the word of her now former boss. 

 

\----

 

It was moving day.

Betty had gotten up earlier then what she had set for alarm for. Considering the amount of drinks she had with her friends from work last night, she felt surprisingly good. Everyone had drunkenly promised to come visit the small town Betty would soon be calling home, but she wasn't sure. There was talk of 'guest articles' but she was drunk. Her friends were drunk. Whether they remember, would be another story all together.

 

One of the many things she'll miss from New York will be the early trading coffee shops. It wasn't even 6am and her favourite coffee shop was trading in full swing. She ordered her large soy latte, with two sugars. Betty doesn't usually get large, but she was planning on having a big day today, so a large coffee was definitely on the cards. 

As she waited for her coffee order, the barista was chatting away with her, expressing how sad he was that one of his most loyal customers was 'ditching' him, as he so kindly said to her. 

Betty proceeded to mention that he would find another, soon enough. Steve, the barista in a silly cap and apron handed Betty her coffee, as she pulled out her purse to say, he waved her away.

"It's on the house my little coffee fiend.. enjoy your new home.. don't forget me!" He pretended to wipe away his tears and bid her farewell.

 

Betty stood on the steps of her New York apartment, drinking her coffee and watching the men from the removal company loading her things into the truck. 

It didn't actually take too long to find a company to drive the distance to Riverdale. It, unfortunately, wasn't cheap for her, but it needed to be done. It was something she needed to do.

 

It was just over two hours and the truck was all loaded up. Betty went up to the apartment for one more look over. She is thankful for being clean. She tried to clean as she packed, and it paid off. Thankfully, there was also no need to worry about carpet cleaning. As much as she wasn't a fan of floorboards, right now, she was grateful.

 

After debating for what felt like days, Betty had decided to drive to Riverdale. For a few different reasons; she will definitely need a car whilst she's there, she can pack the necessary items she'll need in the car without having to wait for the truck to arrive, it'll give her ample opportunity to think, it would've taken too long to try and sell her car and flights were going to be too expensive with such short notice. It'll be a long drive, but she didn't mind. She was hoping she could get it done within a day. According to the research she had done in the days leading up to moving say; it should take about nine hours. Give or take an hour or two. 

 

Betty looked at her car; fully stocked with snacks and drinks; varying between water and the caffeinated kind. She decided it was time to go. She quietly bid farewell to her old life, climbed into her car, turned the engine on and commenced the road trip to her new life. 

Quietly petrified, anxious and excited but optimistic.

 

*

 

It was eight hours later. And Betty was starting the drive into Riverdale. Her TomTom was advising she was about 10 minutes from her new home. Butterflies starting erupting in her stomach. 

_'Calm down, Betty.. calm down.'_

Her hands gripped the steering wheel. As she followed the directions of the TomTom, Betty pulled up outside her new residence. She had received an SMS from the assistant removalist letting her know there were about half an hour away, and that was sent about 15 minutes ago.

 

As Betty removed herself from her now tiny car, she stretched her everything; legs, arms, neck and her back. She groaned. Betty decided she would get a start on unloading some of the things from her car.

She reached into the car and pulled out the keys she had acquired in a quick trip she had made last week.

Betty ran up the small number of stairs and opened the door into the building. Adding to the list of things she was grateful for; getting an apartment on the first floor, no stairs. After driving for hours, stairs were the very last thing Betty wanted to deal with.

As she walked up to her door, unlocked it and walked in, she smiled.

Quietly whispering, 'you're home now, Betty.' 

She walked further in, taking in all of her new surroundings. Remembering just how different this would be from what she was used to.

 

Just as she was in a state of wonder, she heard the unmistakable sound of a truck horn.

'Ugh, dammit.' Betty groaned. 

 

But Betty put on her best Betty Cooper smile and walked outside to greet the removalists. 

 

Thankfully she didn't have to spend too much time instructing the men on where to put the furniture and boxes; Betty was quietly thanking the stars above for smaller living quarters. As she quietly watching the men work she couldn't help but wonder about her neighborhood; there seemed to be a few young families about, which was nice. Betty was used to being surrounded by young professionals. Young, career driven professionals. This was definitely going to be a significant change of pace, to which she was welcoming with open arms.

 

After a couple of short hours, all of the furniture and Betty's belongings were inside. Betty chatted with the removalists, thanked them both for their help and paid them for their services.

They all exchanged smiles and handshakes before the two men climbed into their truck and drove out of the street.

 

Betty sighed.

She walked to her new home, got inside, inspected what was in front of her and groaned. 

It was going to be a long night. 

But she remembered she had all of her necessary personal effects in the car still. Betty let out a strained and tired groan, whilst muttering numerous curse words. At least when it was done, she could sleep on her mattress for tonight. 

The bed could be put together tomorrow.

 

She remembered that it was starting to get a tad chilly earlier when she was talking to the removalists, so Betty decided to put some track pants and a sweatshirt on, whilst putting her unruly hair in a messy bun on top of her head.

After grabbing her car keys, she made her way to the car parked out front and unlocked it.

As she was pulling things out of her, she overestimated how many bags she was actually carrying, and as she was taking the step up from the road to the foot path, one of handles of the bags broke and the items contained in the bag proceeded the litter foot path in front.

 

_"FUCK!"_ Was the first word that Betty yelled. It wasn't just a quiet yell either. She immediately felt embarrassed by her sudden outburst but didn't have any free hands to cover her flushed face.

 

Before she could do anything, she noticed a figure standing up in the doorway of the building.

 

After squinting and trying to make out who the person was, which was obviously ridiculous seeing as she had only been in Riverdale for a total of a few days, including the visit a couple of weeks ago, she suddenly heard her name being called.

Betty froze.

 

As her eyes continued to readjust to the figure in the doorway, it moved closer to her.

 

"No way," Betty couldn't believe it. Of all people.

_"Jughead?"_ She questioned.

 

"Betty? What are you doing?" Jughead chuckled at Betty's current predicament.

 

"Ummmm," she put the bags down that she was holding, before she dropped more, "what am I doing? I'm moving in! I was meant to bring this stuff up earlier, but the removalists got here sooner than anticipated." She shrugged, "and now it's dark, I'm tired and I'm trying to bring the rest of crap in." Betty sighed in defeat.

 

"Moved in to the bottom floor?" Jughead raised an eyebrow.

 

Betty nodded, unable to really find words. She really was tired, hungry, and in shock that Jughead possibly lived in the same building.

 

"Okay, let me help you. Jules is asleep, so I have a few moments," Jughead smiled and leant over to help pick up the clothes but suddenly stopped, "ah, Betty, you may need to get these." He stood up and motioned towards the clothes splayed on the foot path.

 

As Betty looked down, she froze in embarrassment, "oh my god, yes definitely," she scrambled to pick up the loose underwear that consisted of g-strings, lace bralettes, some granny panties and regular bras.

 

Jughead laughed, "look, how about I grab those boxes and you get the bags?" He walked over to the back of Betty's car and grabbed a couple of boxes and made is way up to Betty's apartment.

 

"Fuck, Betty... shit, shit, shit!" Betty said to herself as she was picking the various pieces of underwear that was strewn all over the foot path.

 

After just a couple of trips between the two of them, all of Betty's belongings were in her apartment.

 

"I cannot thank you enough, Jughead. Seriously." Betty wasn't lying. The words thank you weren't enough. But it's the best she could do. "In this situation, I'd offer a beer, a wine, food even... but I don't have any of those things, plus you have a gorgeous little girl sleeping upstairs," Betty shrugged and smiled at the man standing in front of her.

 

"It's okay, Betty. I can't say I know what it's like to move interstate, but I know what it's like to move in general; and it can take a few days to find your feet," Jughead shuffled his feet, "especially being a new town with no support, I've been lucky as I've only ever moved a couple of streets and I've been here all my life, so," he shrugged and smiled, "anyway, I'll leave you to try and settle in. But, in terms of food, as I said, I've lived here all my life, so I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a Riverdale takeaway expert. If you need any help finding good food, I live on the second floor, and there's only one apartment per floor. So I won't be hard to find," he smiled at Betty, and felt himself flush a little, "I should go, it's not a big building, but I've been gone for about 20 minutes," he motioned to upstairs, "and it'll be the one time Jules has a nightmare or unsettles, so maybe I'll see you around Betty." Jughead waved and left Betty's apartment, softly closing the door behind him.

 

Betty stood in the middle of the lounge room.

She had only known this man for a total of an hour, maximum. But she couldn't help but notice the butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach, and the feeling in her chest. She was almost 30 years old. She didn't get crushes. But despite those things; it certainly felt like it was heading that way.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally wanting to get this BETA'd but I really wanted to post. :)  
> Also, please leave comments... I'd love to know your thoughts! xx
> 
> find me on tumblr - sweaters-and-crowns


	3. three

 

 

It was the following day, and Betty had actually slept surprisingly well considering she had slept on a mattress.  
She lazily got dressed; sports bra, underwear, hoodie, gym pants and runners. She threw her hair up in a messy bun, gathered her keys, purse and phone and ventured outside.

Riverdale definitely had a different vibe to New York. It was quiet. It was calm. It was tranquil.  
There was no hustle & bustle or shoulder nudging corporates. And Betty liked it.  
It would take a little to get used to, but she liked it so far.

It didn't take long for Betty to stumble across a diner called Pop's. Even at 8am, the neon lights were bright against the overcast skies.  
She walked up the few stairs and pushed the door open to a ding.  
As she looked over the 50's looking diner, she smiled. This place was cute. She'd only been here a couple of minutes but she already loved it.

Betty walked over to a booth and sat down. As she placed her belongings on the table, an older gentlemen came over to her and introduced himself as Pop.

"You're the owner?" Betty asked him, immediately realising this didn't happen in New York.

Pop nodded, "yes, I am, ma'am, the one and only Pop Tate, at your service," he lowered his hat.

"Oh, gosh, please don't call me ma'am, you make me sound old!" Betty covered her blushing cheeks, "please, call me Betty," she glanced up at him.

Pop chuckled, "of course, Miss Betty. You must be new to Riverdale? I haven't seen your face before, and I'm good with faces."

"You would be correct, Pop. Moved here yesterday, from New York. I'm starting at The Riverdale Register next week. " She looked up at Pop.

"Ahhh. Nancy has been talking about you. She's been waiting for you." Pop smiled, "you'll do good, I can tell. What can I get you this fine morning?" He pulled out a pen and a small notepad.

"Just a coffee, please." Betty flipped through the menu, but not really looking at it.

"I'll throw in a chocolate chip muffin as well, it's all on the house." Pop put his notepad and pen in his apron and walked away before Betty had time to respond.

It was only a short time later and Pop had returned with a coffee, a small jug of milk and a chocolate chip muffin, "enjoy, Miss Betty," and he smiled and walked away.

Betty sat in the booth at the diner for an hour or so before deciding it was best to head to the store, get a few essentials and head back home to continue unpacking and organizing her life.

 

\---

 

Betty was thankful for having that chocolate chip muffin at Pop's, shopping on an empty stomach is never a good idea. Especially seeing as she was walking home.   
She managed to get some bread, butter, soy milk, crackers, cheese, ham, dip and some fruit and various vegetables.

As she made her way to her apartment, she saw Jughead and Juliet heading towards her.  
She felt her stomach do a flip. Jughead seemed to be in some kind of work uniform. All white.

Betty wanted to wave, but her hands were full. Jughead noticed, but still waved. Juliet noticed Jughead's wave, and followed his direction.  
Betty's heart felt like it would burst out of her chest at the sound of Juliet squealing Betty's name.

Before Betty could do anything, Juliet was running up to her at almost full speed, with her Elsa doll flailing about, "BETTY! ELSA!" squealing as she pointed between the two girls, "MATCHING MATCHING!" Pointing to both Betty's and Elsa's blonde hair.

Betty giggled, "they do match, don't they? You're a little clever cookie, hey?"

Juliet's eyes lit up, "COOKIE?" The excitement was the most adorable thing Betty had ever seen.

"Oh, sweetheart, I don't have any cookies..." Betty immediately regretted saying those words, as she noticed the sadness wash over Juliet's face, "oh, Juliet.. how about I'll go to the shop later today, and buy some cookies? How does that sound?" Betty knew that was a good response. Juliet started nodding, "yes, please Betty! Cookies!"

Betty stood up as Jughead got closer, "I may have just promised your daughter cookies... sorry, I hope that's okay..." Betty was nervous.

Jughead laughed, "it's fine, she's a sponge these days, but only for the words she wants to hear," he reached down and ruffled her hair, "daddy, stop!" She tried to whack Jughead's hand away, "Hey, Jules... what have I said about hitting? Hrmmm?" He stood there waiting, until she finally mumbled that it's not okay.  
"Okay, now what do you say to daddy?" Jughead asked his little girl, and again, waited.  
"I'm sowwy, daddy." He crouched down and Juliet reached around his neck and squeezed, "I love you, daddy..", Jughead whispered something in her ear and she giggled.

Betty could almost feel her ovaries exploding at the adorable exchange  taking place in front of her between a loving father and his young daughter.  
She smiled.

"Anyways, I'll be late for work, I need to drop her off at my dads place on the way through. And you should get those groceries in a fridge," he reached down and grabbed his daughters hand, "cmon, Jules, let's go to Grandad's. I heard he has a present for you." Juliet gasped, "see you soon, Betty."

  
As they walked down the street she turned around to see Juliet turning around and waving, Betty smiled and couldn't help but return the girls wave.

 

*

 

It was creeping up on early evening and Betty decided it was probably about time that she got some dinner. She looked in the fridge and was trying to figure out what she could make: She's usually pretty creative when it comes to cooking but tonight, there was no creativity at all.

Before she could think about what she was doing, Betty was once again gathering her personal effects and was closing the door behind her and walking up the stairs to the second floor of the building.  
She took a deep breathe and knocked on Jughead's door and exhaled.

His front door opened to a drop dead gorgeous brunette woman, "Hi, can I help you?" The woman asked.

For a brief moment Betty forgot to breathe, it wasn't until the brunette cleared her throat and repeated the question again, "Oh, um, I was looking for Jughead, but I didn't realize he had company, sorry to bother. I'll see him later," Betty smiled and started walking away.

"Hang on! Wait wait. Are you Betty?" The stranger asked, as Betty was walking away.

"Ah, yeah.. I am-" before Betty could finish, she was interrupted, "Fantastic! I'm Veronica Lodge-Andrews, it's lovely to meet you! Come in.. Jughead is just getting Jules reedy for bed, he shouldn't to be too much longer! So you're new to Riverdale, yeah? Where are you from? What are you doing for work?"

Betty wasn't used to so many questions being fired at her, it was usually the other way around. She finally knew what it was like to feel interrogated. In the back of her head, she was wishing she was downstairs eating ham & cheese watching trashy television. But here she was.

"I, um, yeah, I moved from New York, I actually moved here for work. My former boss pushed me in the direction of The Riverdale Register, and here I am." Betty was still unsure of who Veronica was and what was even happening. What she did know, was that she felt uncomfortable, "anyway, I should probably go, Ummm. I was lovely to meet you, Veronica. Let Jughead know I said hello and I'll see him later," Betty turned on her heel and left.

As she was walking down the stairs she couldn't help the shaking. It had been years since she'd felt like this. And it wasn't a good feeling to be having.  
Betty fumbled for her keys and opened her door, closed it and slid down to the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees.  
 _"This, Elizabeth. This is why you don't do things without thinking. You're a fucking idiot,"_ she let her head fall backwards with a light thud against the door.

Half an hour had passed and Betty had finally managed to pick herself up off the floor, go to her room to get changed into her pajamas and make her way to the fridge; picking out some cheese, ham, carrot & celery sticks along with the dip she had brought earlier in the day.  
As she was organizing onto a one of the platters she brought with her, there was a knock at her door.

She placed the platter of food on the coffee table and walked over to the door, even though she already knew who it was; she still looked through the peephole.

  
It was Jughead. Looking a bit embarrassed but also annoyed.

Betty unlocked the deadlock and opened the door.  
"Hey Jughead, come in," she opened the door and walked in, beckoning him to follow.

"So, you met Mrs Veronica Lodge-Andrews?" He had his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Yeah, I did, she seems...ummm, I don't know, to be honest." Betty wasn't going to lie. I mean, she could. She doesn't know this man. She doesn't know Veronica. But there was something about him that made her want to be truthful.

Jughead chuckled, "she's full on. There's no way around that. She's my best friends wife. They came around to drop off some stuff for Jules," he shuffled his feet, "I've spoken about you, which is why she knew who you were. Veronica and Archie are up there at the moment. She knew I was pissed off, so I'll be taking as long as I need. If that's cool?"

Betty nodded.

"Funny story, actually," Betty moved to sit on the couch and gestured Jughead to join her, "I _was_ coming up to see you about food.. but after Veronica," she sighed, "I kind of didn't feel like eating, I suppose, but thought if I made a platter, I would eat." Betty shrugged.

Jughead groaned, "bloody, Veronica. She does my head in sometimes. I know she's just being protective and looking out for Jules and I, but she has such a shit way of going about it." He grabbed a cube of cheese and shoved it in his mouth, "I'm sorry it took me so long to come down and apologise. Jules took a little while to settle tonight. Dad introduced her to 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' today, so needless to say, she needed it read like seven times before bed," he took a carrot stick and dipped it in the guacamole.

"Look, it's fine, Jughead. It just took me by surprise and caught me off guard. I'm used to being the one doing the interrogation, not the other way around," Betty took a bit of ham and a celery stick, "it's no big deal, really."

"If I'm going to be honest with you, Betty, which I want to be, since Juliet's mum, you've pretty much been the only female, apart from Veronica that I've had any kind of interaction with, even if it has been only a couple of conversations. So, it's probably just Veronica being protective, which is totally unnecessary but it's just who she is," he took another carrot stick, "look, let me make it up to you? Properly apologise for Veronica being an idiot. They are looking after Jules on Saturday night. Let me to take you out for dinner. I know you've been to Pop's, and before you think I'm a total creep for knowing that, I work there and Pop told me about this, I quote him, 'beautiful green eyed woman came in for a coffee and muffin this morning'. Didn't take too long to figure out who he was referring to. Pop makes a mean burger, and the milkshakes are out of this world. I know it's not New York standards, but you're living in Riverdale now." He smirked.

"I don't want know to say..." Betty was genuinely speechless, which didn't happen too often.

"I'll swing past at 5:30pm, on Saturday night," he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, "put your number in there. I know I only live upstairs, but I can't always come down," he handed his phone over to Betty.

She grabbed his phone and put her number in, "so you have my number, but I don't have yours?" Betty questioned him, still confused.

"I should go, but, we'll chat soon, Betty. Thank you for the delicious platter, sorry I ate most of it." As he was about to leave, he turned around, "hey, I really am sorry about Veronica. I know she can be full on. But please don't let her be a reflection of myself, or even Juliet."

Betty nodded.

"I'll see you Saturday." And he was gone.

Betty sighed, _'what the fuck just happened? Did he just ask me out on a date? Ugh oh my god!'_ She flung herself sideways on the couch.  
Before she could think anymore her phone buzzed.

She saw it was from an unknown number, and swiped right to open it up.

**J - I hope this isn't texting too soon? I don't know what the protocol is these days, tbh. This is all a bit foreign to me. But, in all seriousness. I'm looking forward to drinking milkshakes and eating burgers on Saturday, Betty. I look forward to getting to know you.**

Betty smiled, and decided not to dismiss the butterflies in her stomach.

**B - I'm in the same boat, I have no idea what the appropriate timeframe is for texting. But I'm okay with your approach. I'll probably see you before Saturday night, seeing as we're kinda in the same building :) but I also look forward to burgers and milkshakes.**

Betty cleaned the lounge room and went to lay down in bed. She went to sleep wishing for Saturday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a comment - I love reading them! xx
> 
> find me on Tumblr - sweaters-and-crowns


	4. four

 

 

Saturday evening had rolled around, and Betty was going through her wardrobe for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.  
Jeans and sweater, or the Dress and cardigan, or maybe the Mini skirt and collared shirt.

  
After numerous arguments in her head, Betty decided on the 'ol trusty - Jeans and a sweater, with a scarf. Betty loved a good scarf; one could almost say she was obsessed, to a degree. Thankfully it was getting slightly cooler in the evenings.  
She went for soft curls, and natural makeup. Nothing that could smudge too much from burgers. Burgers were not an easy or glamorous food to eat.

Betty poured herself a probably too large a glass of wine to try and calm the nerves.   
The likelihood of this being a date was slim. But it didn't lessen the nerves or calm the butterflies that were fluttering away in her stomach.

Betty couldn't help but keep looking at the time, on both her phone and the wall clock. It was only 5:00PM. He was coming past at 5:30PM. It gave her exactly 25 minutes to think about and second guess all of her life choices right up until this very moment. But, mainly think about all the questions she wanted to ask Jughead.

  
Did he like pulpy orange juice? Red apples or green apples? Margarine or butter? CSI or Law and Order? Was he an avid emoji in SMS user? Did he like Knock-Knock jokes? She sure hoped he liked dad-jokes, and she definitely realised the irony of that.

There were obviously the more serious questions regarding Juliet and her mother. But even Betty knew that would be something Jughead would have to bring up on his own. And be wanting to share with Betty. As much as the journalist in her would be pushing, even aching to know; Betty knew the difference between wanting to know and needing to know.

  
At this stage; it was a want. Not a need.

As she finished the large glass of wine; she thought about the upcoming week at her new job. Terrified didn't even begin to describe her feelings. It was a big change. She had stopped by the office during the week to chat with Nancy. And, thankfully, Nancy was going to be around for at least a few more weeks. Mainly as moral support.   
They had agreed to do a couple of day trips around Riverdale; Mainly to give Betty the opportunity to introduce herself to the locals.   
One bit of advice that Nancy gave Betty was to cement her 'brand' - establish what she was about, what she wanted to achieve and how she was going to go about it. If she was going to establish a trusting relationship with the local members of the Riverdale community, she was going to need to be upfront and honest with them.   
It would be a slow process; but Betty needed to focus on the long term.  
Short term pain would equal long term gain.

While being whisking away in her thoughts, she heard the knocks on the door.  
Betty suddently felt like she was going to throw up, and thought to herself that maybe the giant glass of wine wasn't such a wise move on her part, especially on an empty stomach.

As she gathered together her coat and her personal things, she made a one last dash around the apartment to make sure all of the unnecessary lights were switched off and all the electrical applicances had been turned off as well.  
With one big inhale, she opened the front door to a very well dressed man.

"Well, look at you, Jughead. Don't you scrub up nice when required." Betty grinned, and felt a little giddy at just how gorgeous he was.

"Ah, it's the best I could do, to be honest. It's not like I get an opportunity to dress up everyday, ya'know? Thankfully Jules is at Veronica's and Archie's, otherwise I'd likely be covered in drool, snot or spaghetti bolognaise." He looked like he suddently winced at the overshare, "sorry, that was a bit too much information, I'm sure."

Betty giggled, "It's fine. I may not have experience with children, but I get the idea. There's no need to apologise. I want you to feel comfortable with me, and talking about Juliet is obviously something that you're comfortable talking to me about, which is wonderful, Jughead. Drool and snot included," She gently touched his arm, "Now, speaking of oversharing, I've had a giant glass of wine, which was likely not wise before having a milkshake, but I'm going to need some food, STAT, so let's make a move." Betty shoved Jughead backwards, before doing the final bag check to make sure she had keys and locked the door, and pulled it shut behind her.

The walk to Pop's was relaxed; it was small talk, but it was nice. The wine has slowly settled, and she wasn't feel as giddy as she was earlier. It's probably a good thing Jughead mentioned drool and snot, otherwise Betty would have almost attempted to jump him right there and then in the doorway. Which is very unlike Betty. But with the combination of wine and his good looks. Well, who can blame her really.

 

*

 

As they entered Pop's, Jughead signaled at Pop, to which the man replied with a small wave and a kind smile.  
The two made their way to a booth at the back of the diner and settled in.  
Pop came over and gave them a menu each. Betty had a feeling that Jughead didn't need a menu, but appreciated Pop's efforts.

"What can I get you two this evening? Milkshakes to start?" Pop asked, full well knowing that milkshakes were on order.

"I'll just get a vanilla milkshake, please. Could I get extra ice cream?" Betty unknowingly fluttered her lashes, and immediately flushed.

"Of course, Miss Betty. Vanilla, extra ice cream. And, Jughead, I already know what you want, so don't bother." Pop chuckled and made his way to the kitchen.

"So, I have to ask," Betty laid her hands flat on the table in front, "You work here? Do you really love it that much that you eat here too?"

Jughead sighed and laughed at the same time, "I know it seems bizarre, to eat a place and willingly go to the place where you work four days a week, but Pop's is like my second home, literally. I've been coming here for a long time. Even before I worked here. I started working here just before Jules was born actually. But before that, I'd come here to write. It was sort of like my escape from the real world," He looked out the window, "The real world for me was, ah-" he sighed, "-not great, without going into too much detail, you know."

Betty nodded, "I understand. I wasn't judging you. I was just curious really." She smiled, "I like it here. I can see the appeal. It's comforting, I guess. You don't experience comfort like this in New York. It's warm, inviting even. I totally get the escape. It's like nothing can hurt you in here," Betty looked up at Jughead, who was staring intently at her, she flushed, "Ah, anyway, sorry that got deep." Betty sat up and readjusted.

"There's something about you, Betty Cooper. I don't quite know what it is just yet. But, there's something." He licked his bottom lip, Betty knew it wasn't intentional, but she had to ignore the eruption in her stomach.

Just as she was about to say something possibly inappropriate, Pop returned with their milkshakes.  
Betty was excited. The milkshakes looked out of this world.  
As she took a sip, her mouth sliding over the straw, she sighed as the vanillary-milky goodness made it's way into her mouth. As she swallowed the first mouthful, she could feel Jughead's eyes on her. She looked up and his eyes were the size of saucers.

He flushed, "I, ummm, sorry. It's just a milkshake, but, ummm-" Jughead looked down and focused on his own milkshake.

Betty let out a slight giggle, "It's okay, Jug, we should probably order some burgers, burgers are a lot less sexy than milkshakes," As she looked over at Pop, he received her signal and made his way over.

The rest of dinner went well.  
Betty had assumed correctly with her makeup and clothes choice.  
The burgers were messy, so thankfully minimal makeup meant minimal smudge.  
The jeans, sweater and scarf choice, the scarf was big enough to cover the baby sized stomach Betty was now sporting after two milkshakes and a burger.  
She kept apologising to Jughead for not really acting like a lady, to which Jughead was thankful. He didn't want to be attracted to another version of Veronica Lodge-Andrews.

"You're attracted to me?" She stopped suddenly in her tracks, and turned to look at Jughead, as they made their way slowly back to their apartment block.

"Well, of course I do. You're beautiful, Betty. Surely, you know that, right?" Jughead looked genuinely surprised by Betty's question.

"No, not really." She shuffled her feet and looked at the ground, suddently feeling embarressed.

"Hey, hey," He rested his finger Betty's chin and lifted her face to look at his, "You are beautiful. I feel pretty damn lucky that Juliet ran up to you at the coffee shop that day, cos I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about you."

Betty could feel the sting of tears pricking her eyes, "The feeling is mutual," is all she could say.

"Good, I'm glad," Jughead grabbed Betty's hand as they walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence.

As they approached Betty's front door, she turned to face Jughead. Her hand reached up and stroked his arm, "did you wanna come inside for a bit? We can have a coffee and a biscuit?" She bit her lip as she looked up at his face, "it's nothing unadulterated, I promise. I just feel like I'm only scratching the surface of all that is Jughead Jones. And I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't the journalist in me simmering at the surface, but please, feel free to tell me fuck off and mind my own business though."

Jughead laughed, "it's not often I get invited into a beautiful woman's home for coffee and biscuits with a side of 20 questions, but it goes both ways, Betty Cooper." He raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I would expect nothing else, Sir." She laughed, as she reached into her handbag and pulled out her keys.

The door opened, and Betty flicked the lounge room light switch on. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the clean apartment. Betty was generally a clean person, but it could've been one of those moments when you invite someone in and the place looks like a construction site.  
Thankfully, this was not one of those times.

"Please, sit. I'll get us coffees and biscuits. How do you take your coffee?" Betty asked as she was grabbing mugs out of the cupboard, along with cookies and milk from the fridge.

"Just straight up black coffee, thanks. No sugar, no cream or milk." Jughead replied as he was checking out her DVD collection, which he noted was actually in alphabetical order, "no Disney, impressive!"

"Oh, no. There is Disney. But that's in my bedroom. So don't get too excited. I mean, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid? Classics!" Betty was pouring water into the side of the coffee machine.

"Classics, I guess. Jules would have a field day! She loves Disney. If it's not the DVDs, it's the soundtracks. But it keeps her happy, which is my priority, so.." He took a step back and sat himself down on the couch.

Betty walked over and handed him the coffee before heading back to the kitchen to grab the biscuits.

Jughead took a sip of his coffee, "fuck, that is good coffee, Betts. Far out," as he drank more and reached for a chocolate chip biscuit, "coffee and biscuits, you're definitely doing well with the seducing!" He chuckled.

"Jug..." Betty rolled her eyes, "its good to know, but that's not why I invited you in."

"I know, I know." He put his coffee on the table and finished the biscuit, "Betty Cooper, what do you wanna know? Where do you want me to start?"

Betty had so many questions floating through her head; where did she want him to start?

"From the beginning... tell me about Juliet's mum."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments..   
> Leave ALL of the comments, please! xx
> 
> Find me over on Tumblr -  
> sweaters-and-crowns


	5. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take no responsibility for emotions..
> 
> And also, massive thanks to @gay-for-rey1999 and @lilibug--xx
> 
> You two are the BESTEST.

_Betty had so many questions floating around her head; where did she want him to start from?_

_"From the beginning... Tell me about Juliet's mum."_

 

Betty turned around on the couch to face Jughead, and brought her legs up in front of her, and crossed them. She wanted Jughead to be comfortable. The best she could do was to have her legs as space between them.

Jughead exhaled, "Okay, from the beginning," Betty nodded, "Sabrina. That's her name. I'd known Sabrina pretty much all of my life. We grew up in the same trailer park. Went to the same school, all that stuff. She was my best friend. It wasn't until a few years ago, when Archie and Veronica noticed a shift in our friendship. I can't remember how it happened or when it happened. But we were all of a sudden together," Jughead started fidgeting a bit.

Betty reached out and touched his leg, "It's okay, you can stop, I understand," He put his hand on Betty's and shook his head.

"At the time, everything changed, but nothing changed. It was strange. But, it felt right, you know? We'd be out; there'd be hand holding, the occasional kiss but nothing crazy or over the top. But enough to let the world know I was hers and she was mine," He reached up and removed his crown shaped beanie, which Betty immediately sensed was a big deal for him, "Veronica had one of her big parties, celebrating something or rather, I, for the life of me can't remember what, but there was a lot of free flowing booze. Sabrina and both had our fair share to drink that night. We were out the back, kinda mucking around, and before we knew it, well, you know. I don't need to go into details."

Betty shook her head.  
He definitely didn't.

Jughead rested his hand on Betty's knee, and for a moment caught her eye, as if he asking if it was okay. Betty, once again, nodded.

"It was a few weeks later, and her moods were fluctuating, a lot. I mean, she was a moody person in general, but this was different. We got into an argument. There was yelling. There was crying. She told me to leave, so I went to Archie's. Veronica was there, and I was telling her about it. I didn't even know what we were arguing about. I mentioned the mood swings, and Veronica started shooting questions at me. Asking me about how long she had been like it, had she been unwell. At the time, I didn't think too much about it, to be honest. But it was when she asked if there was a possibility that Sabrina was pregnant that shook me. I mentally started counting the weeks and I remembered the party," He lowered his eyes, and took his hand away from Betty's knee.

"I remember calling her, but she didn't wanna talk to me. She needed space, apparently. I didn't know what to do. I needed to see her, I wanted to be with her. Make sure she was okay. But, I also had to respect her wishes. So, I gave her a couple of days. And, let me tell you, living in the same trailer park, and being used to spending every night with someone to not seeing them at all. It's a killer,"

Jughead started intertwining his fingers, "It was a couple of days later and I made the decision to see her. The walk up to her trailer was the hardest. I knocked, and there was no answer. Her parents weren't home too often. I knocked a couple more times, but there was still no answer. The door was unlocked, so I walked in. It didn't take too long. I found her in her bedroom. She was curled up under her doona. She must've heard me come in," Betty noticed that he choked up a bit, she stroked his leg as a comfort, and hoped he didn't mind, she wanted to hug him, but knew it wasn't the right time, "She sat up, and the look she gave me is not something I'll ever forget. She was petrified. Before I had a chance to ask her if she was okay, she threw a pregnancy test at me and just screamed at me. I looked at the test on the floor, and it was positive. I fell in a heap. I was in a complete state of shock. It felt like I was on the floor for hours. There was just silence."

Jughead continued, "I eventually told her that we needed to make an appointment at the Doctors, find out how far along she was and figure out our options. It took her a while but finally agreed. We managed to get in later that day. She was about seven weeks along. So, she still had time, if she didn't wanna go ahead. In my heart, I felt I had a sudden sense of responsibility, but it was Sabrina's choice, it was her body. I couldn't make the decision for her. We had countless conversations. Hours and hours of conversations. But at the end of it; I told her it was her decision. She knew what I wanted," He sat there for a few moments.

"I was sitting in the trailer a few days later, watching TV but not really watching it. I had been spaced out for a few days. Sabrina had come over and told me she wanted to keep the baby, saying that if she was going to start a family with anyone, she wanted it to be with her best friend," he smiled at the memory, "I was over the moon. I was so damn excited. The months went by quickly. She had ultrasounds, we took pictures of her belly. It was amazing. It was the absolute most beautiful transformation I'd ever seen. As much as Sabrina denied it, pregnancy suited her, it agreed with her. I mean, she had her issues, as I'm sure any pregnant woman is. But she was glowing."

"Hang on a sec," Betty stood up and went grabbed a couple of glasses of water, "Here," She handed one of the glasses to Jughead, he smiled, "I didn't even know I needed this until you brought them over," he finished the glass in a matter of seconds, and put it back on the coffee table.

"The labour was quick. We had been reading up on it the week leading up to. There were some bloody horror stories out there, Betts. Truly horrifying. But, Sabrina woke up one morning, her waters broke, we went to the hospital. Jules had had a bowel movement, so they had to get her out quickly. Sabrina had to have a drip of some kind to help speed up the contractions, or something. She didn't have time for an epidural or anything. It was just the gas, and she was inhaling the gas at the wrong time. Which was funny to me, but obviously not to her," he chuckled at the memory, "It was late in the afternoon, and we had Juliet, she had finally arrived. She had the most beautiful mass of black hair and blue eyes. I was smitten, straight away. I hated leaving them at night. It was the worst three nights and best three days of my life, at the time."

Betty couldn't help but notice the love in his eyes when he spoke of Juliet coming into the world, it made her heart beat faster and louder then usual, "The first six weeks at home were good. Dad had started to sober up, Sabrina's parents were home a lot more. I had pretty much moved into their trailer. Thankfully, their trailer was bigger then ours. It would've made sense to live in Dad, seeing as he was the only one there, but we didn't wanna risk it with his drinking. But, Juliet was the very reason he stopped. She was the apple of his eye, slowly over the next week we started moving stuff over to mine and Dad's trailer. I should've noticed the change in Sabrina, but I was so fixated on Juliet, that I didn't see the signs."

Jughead's eyes starting glassing over, Betty noticed the tears creeping in, "I took Juliet to Pop's in the morning to get breakfast, she had only woken a couple of times during the night, but I was exhausted still, and so was Sabrina. So, I thought I'd go get us coffees and breakfast. I ended up getting caught up chatting with Pop about all things Juliet, that I had lost track of time. I kinda panicked. I remember walking back to the trailer, FP's truck wasn't there but he had been getting ready for work as I was leaving, but Sabrina's car wasn't there. I couldn't remember her saying she was going anywhere. My stomach dropped," He leant forward, elbows on his knees.

Betty reached over and gently touched his shoulder, her emotions were in overdrive. It's like she could sense what had happened, and she felt sick.

"I walked into the trailer, holding Juliet, she was sleeping. I immediately went to the bedroom," Jughead sniffed, and Betty could tell he was crying, her heart broke.

"All of her stuff was gone. Everything. Just like that. She left. I put Jules in her bassinet, and just sat on the bed and cried. Sabrina had left us. Juliet was two months old. Two months, Betts. And she left. No note, nothing," He sat back up and straightened his back, "But I had to be strong. For not just me now, but for her. She needed someone to love her. To take care of her. It was obvious her mother didn't. So, I had to be both her father and her mother. I had to step up in the biggest way possible," He looked over at Betty, and noticed the steady stream of tears rolling down her cheeks, instinctively, he reached over and wiped her left cheek, as he did so, she leaned into his hand.

"I don't know what to say, Juggie. I can't-" He reached over with his right hand, and wiped her right cheek, "Shh, it's okay, Betts. I don't expect you to say anything, not a thing."

Through glassy eyes, she quietly whispered, "Have you heard from her, at all since?"

Jughead moved his hands from Betty's cheeks, and slowly shook his head, "I don't want to hear from her ever again. The moment she made that decision to leave, not even the act of physically leaving, but mentally, she forfeited any chance of seeing her beautiful daughter, ever again. Jules is looked after. Between me, Veronica, Arch and Dad. She's fine. She's happy."

"She's beautiful, Jug. She really is," Betty swallowed hard. Before she could even think about what she was doing, or second guess her actions, she unfolded her legs and moved to sit on Jughead's lap.

Betty needed to be near him. Her hands reached to cup his face, and his hands automatically rested on his waist, "Juliet is lucky to have you as her Dad. I can see how much you love her and care for her. She's your world," Before she could say anymore, she felt his lips crashing into hers, his hands grabbing her waist and pulling her closer. The electricity she felt racing through her body was unlike anything else she had felt before. Suddenly, his tongue was on her lips, asking for entrance, Betty didn't even have to think twice, her lips slowly parted with his tongue desperately searching her mouth, she felt herself slowly moving over him, she could feel his arousal - he wanted this as much as she did.

She could feel the warmth pooling in her stomach. In that moment; she needed him. And he needed her.  
Their tongues ravishing each other's mouth, her fingers running through his hair, his hands rubbing up and the sides of her body, eagerly pushing her to grind him, heavy breathing coupled with the soft moans escaping their hungry mouths.

Without warning, he suddenly pulled away, his breathing was raspy, he rested his forehead against Betty's. She immediately felt empty, she gasped.

"Jug..." it's the only words she could find. He had literally taken her breath away.

"I'm sorry, Betty. I shouldn't have done that, you were just there, and you're so god damn beautiful," he sighed.

"Don't say that. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you to do it." She nudged his nose with hers.

He smiled a soft smile, "I should go," he moved his hands from her waist.

"Please, don't," but she knew he had to go, she reluctantly removed herself from his lap.

"Trust me, Betts. I don't want to go. And if you ask me to stay, I will. In less then a heartbeat. But, it's complicated," He sat up and looked directly at her, "This isn't simple. I have baggage. I have a two and a half year old sassy princess that takes up 80% of my life."

Betty nodded, "I know," Before she could say anymore, Jughead stood up and straightened his clothes. Betty followed.

He slowly walked to the front door, with Betty close behind. With just inches between them, he again, cupped her face, in that moment, Betty decided this was one of her new favourites places to be - in his hands.

Jughead leant down and gently kissed her forehead.

"I like you a lot, Betty Cooper. I really do." He gently rubbed her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

"I like you too, Jughead Jones."

And he opened the door, and was once again gone.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments!  
> Comments are my freaking life!
> 
> This chapter was a wave of emotions... it was hard to write. I was happy, heartbroken and in love all at the same time.  
> HMU with what you think will happen... xxx
> 
> Find me over on the 'ol Tumblr ~  
> sweaters-and-crowns


	6. six

 

 

 

Betty stood at her front door for what felt hours; replaying everything that had happened tonight.

It started off as innocent burgers and milkshakes, to a romantic walk home, followed by Jughead pretty much bearing his soul right up to an intense make out session which involved her basically grinding on Jughead's lap.

She looked at the empty platter and glasses on the table and decided it could be cleaned up in the morning. Sleep was needed, not that she was entirely sure she would even be able to sleep.  
Knowing that Jughead was just upstairs; wanting her as much as she was wanting him.

_"Trust me, Betts. I don't want to go. And if you ask me to stay, I will. In less then a heartbeat. But, it's complicated."_

Betty wanted to ask him to stay, but he was right. It was complicated. She needed to think about Juliet. After hearing what happened with Sabrina; Jughead had every right to be cautious. He had known her his entire life; they had a family - and she left.  
Jughead had known Betty for just over a week.   
Betty didn't even know Jughead's real name; because it surely wasn't Jughead.

She turned all the lights off and made her to the bedroom. Slipping into her pajamas, she climbed into bed. As she lay there staring at the ceiling, all she could feel were his hands on her waist, moving her up and down against him. His tongue ravishing her mouth. The soft groans that erupted from him. Followed by the sudden emptiness she felt when he pulled away from her.  
Her chest tightened just thinking about it.

Her phone buzzed.  
Betty reached over and grabbed it off her bedside table. It was from Jughead.

**J - I can taste your lips. And it's fucking delicious. Please, excuse my language.**

She giggled.

**B - I'm glad you think so. Would be a shame if you thought otherwise, I suppose?**

This flirting was a terrible idea.

**J - I'm usually awake at about 8am. Come up. I wanna make you coffee and breakfast.**

Her stomach flipped.

**B - 8am, on the dot. I'll be there. I'll bring my milk; yay for lactose intolerance.**

She smacked herself on the forehead: that's a sure fire way to kill any mood there was.

**J - that's good to know, I think? Goodnight beautiful.**

She chewed her bottom lip.

**B - goodnight Juggie. xx**

After she lay there for a few moments; the later events of the evening crashed into her thoughts all over again... it wasn't long enough after that Jughead's name was on her lips.

 

*

 

Betty woke just after 7am to a message from Jughead that had been sent earlier.

**J - we'll either have to postpone breakfast, or you're welcome to come up after 9am. Archie has called to let me know Veronica has had a family emergency, so they'll be dropping Jules off earlier then anticipated. Not ideal. But I do kinda miss my little sass queen. Hopefully see you in a few hours. xx**

As much as Veronica scared the living shit out of her just a few days earlier, family emergencies were never good. And she hoped it was nothing too serious.

Did she want to intrude on their breakfast? She was worried for Juliet and how her sudden appearance would effect her.

**B - just woke up. I think it might be best if I have breakfast at home this morning. We're entering into, as you said, a complicated situation. And I don't want to confuse Juliet. Maybe later in the week? Because if I'm going to be honest, it'll be hard to keep my hands off of you after last night.... xx**

Betty hated saying no, especially to Jughead. But she had to look at the bigger picture. It wasn't just about them two. There was a third person. Juliet. Juliet may only be young, but Betty knew how impressionable children were.

She sighed. Never in a million years had she thought she'd find herself in a situation like this.   
Falling for a wonderful man. A wonderful man, whom also happened to be a father, and to an extent a mother. That was a big bite for Betty to chew.  
But, she liked Jughead, a lot.   
He was the last person she thought about before falling asleep at night, and the first person she thought about when she woke in the morning.

The night before felt so normal. Felt natural.  
His hands on her, his mouth on hers. He just fit.  
Betty rolled over and groaned into her pillow.

In the midst of the face planting her pillow; her phone buzzed.

**J - I understand, I am irresistible. ;) but definitely later in the week. Wednesday is treat night here. Pizza, usually. I'll text you later in the week. xx**

Betty smiled.  
She was worried about his response; but this was good. Betty decided she could still squeeze a few hours of sleep in before tackling housework.

 

*

 

Betty woke up to the sound of a child squealing outside. She knew immediately who it was.

Juliet.

She looked at her phone and realized it was after 1PM.  
'Fuck!' She whispered.

Betty jumped out of bed and walked over to her window. Sure enough, Jughead and Juliet were walking past, with what looked like bags of groceries. She decided to put on some pants and a tshirt, and ran to her front door. As they both approached the door, Betty opened it for him.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, Jughead jones. And of course, Miss Juliet," Betty gave her a small wave, to which she received a responding wave from the little girl, "your little squeal woke me up, Miss. but, it's a good thing, because who would've opened the door for your daddy?"

Juliet looked shy, and shrugged her little shoulders.  
Betty crouched down, "hey, it's okay, I don't mind. I like being woken up by little squeals. It's kind of adorable... you know?" Betty reached out and touched the little girls shoulder.

Betty couldn't help but notice Juliet's blush.  
Juliet did a little twirl and made a run for the stairs.

"Thanks, Betts. You didn't have to do that."   
Betty nodded, "I know, but I saw you both outside, saw the groceries, and I can't imagine Juliet can open the front door?"

Jughead laughed, "no, no she cannot."

"Feeling a little deja vu, you should get those groceries put away." Betty motioned towards the bags.

"Touché. I'll, ummm, text you later on." All of a suddenly, Jughead leant in and gave her a soft kiss.  
"See you, Betty."

Betty touched her lips, feeling slightly flushed, as she watched Jughead walk up the stairs calling out to Juliet, as she scurried away. Betty smiled and went back into her apartment.

 

*

 

If Betty had said she wasn't curious about Sabrina and her whereabouts - she would be flat out lying.  
The journalist in her itched. The journalist in her was almost in a seek and destroy mode.  
Betty knew destroy was obviously not an option - but she needed to know.  
At this stage, google wasn't an option; she didn't know Sabrina's last name.

A trip to the library was required. Assuming births deaths and marriages were of course public record.  
Betty got changed into something that was a little more appropriate for the public, grabbed her handbag, googled where the library was - and it seemed to be within walking distance.

To an extent; Betty knew she was betraying Jughead. But for her own peace of mind; she needed to know. How she was going to proceed when she got enough information was yet to be established. She hadn't thought that far in advance just yet.

Betty was three things; curious, determined and slowly falling in love.  
She just hoped the mother of Jughead's child wasn't planning on making a return to their lives.

 

\----

 

Betty entered the library and made her way to the help desk.

"Hi there, I was wondering if you'd be able to point me in the direction of where I'd find the public records? Specifically birth records? If possible..." Betty put on her sweet as a button voice.

"The records are on the second level and straight to your left. It's all public. There's a phone upstairs, or you can come back down if you have any questions." The older lady directed Betty to the upper level.

"Thank you so much," giving the woman her best Betty Cooper smile.

She made her way to the second floor and turned to her left. Betty found a computer and clicked on the search function.  
Juliet was two and half, so she counted back and searched 'Births' for the year. Turns out, that year was a particularly busy year for Riverdale. Betty giggled. But soon remembered the task at hand.

As the search continued, she stopped.  
In amongst the hundred or so names, 'Juliet Mary Jones'. Betty started shaking.  
As she clicked the name; Juliet's birth certificate opened. All of the details were right there in front of her. Betty grabbed her phone, opened her camera; ensuring there was no one around and that it was on silent.  
She took a photo of the certificate.  
Betty's heart was racing. Hard and fast.  
She noted the address was that of the trailer park.  
She closed the certificate and went back to the search screen, and entered in Sabrina's details.  
Betty couldn't help but feel a slight ping of regret and also concern at just how easily she could obtain a complete strangers details.  
But those concerns were quickly brushed aside as Sabrina's details popped up on the computer screen in front of her.

Just like that.  
Betty had Sabrina's personal details; well at the least the details that were public.  
Once again, Betty took a photo and placed the phone in her back pocket, cleared the history and closed the screen, before making her way downstairs, making sure to give a polite wave to the woman at the help desk.

Betty knew that if she didn't do it now, she never would.  
She power walked home, hoping to the whoever was above that she didn't bump into Jughead on the way; because she knew if she saw him, the guilt would overwhelm her and she wouldn't do it.  
Thankfully, there was no Jughead in sight.  
She got into her car; her breathing almost erratic.

Turned the key, and waited patiently for her TomTom to boot up. As soon as it booted up, she reached over and chose the option of entering the address of her destination.

The TomTom advised her it would take 25 minutes to get to where she needed to be.  
That gave her 25 minutes, give or take a few minutes either side to think of her game plan.

Betty reached over, grabbed her seatbelt and buckled in. She indicated and followed the directions the TomTom was advising, leaving Riverdale behind.

 

*

 

35 minutes later, Betty was parked a few houses down from the address.  
On the drive over, she established her story, her plan. As she unbuckled her seatbelt, she grabbed her phone, maneuvered herself in the car seat to get it in her back pocket.   
She climbed out of her car, ran her fingers through her blonde hair, walked over the passenger side and grabbed her handbag.

After a bit of a pep talk. She made her way down to number 43.  
It was a nice house. A gorgeous baby blue door, with some nice greenery either side.   
After another deep breath, she walked up the pathway, up the couple of stairs and knocked on the door.

'Game face, Betty.' She whispered to herself, 'Betty Cooper smile.'

The front door opened, and it was unmistakably Sabrina. Betty was undoubtedly standing face to face with Juliet's mother.   
And from the size of Sabrina's stomach; she was most definitely expecting. Betty gulped.

 

This is not what Betty expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. seven

 

Sabrina was pregnant.  
It took all of Betty's energy to refrain from yelling all of the possible obscenities at her.

"Hi there! My name in Jane, and I've just moved to the area, couple of streets down actually, and I'm about to start my own hairdressing business," Betty smiled hoping the god this worked. "I've been doing a bunch of door knocking, just getting my name out there.

"The pregnant woman in front of her blinked, "I see, well, I already have a regular hairdresser, so," she said as she stroked her pregnant stomach."Oh, of course!" Betty giggled, "I'm just putting some feelers out at the moment; it's a very word of mouth kinda business, you know, home salons! Is this your first? If you don't mind me asking... my sister is actually about to have a little girl, our family is buzzing at the moment!" Betty couldn't tell if she was a terrible liar or a great one.

Sabrina looked suddenly cautious, "ah, yeah, it is. Little boy. My partner and I are really excited," again, rubbing her stomach.  
"I can only imagine! How exciting. Look, would it be okay if I left you my contact details? I'm going to have a bunch of introductory offers for cuts & colours." Betty hated what she was saying, she was a journalist, and sometimes that involved stretching the truth a little.  
"Ah yeah, I guess." Sabrina waited as Betty reached into her handbag to pull out a notebook and a pen, "I'm so sorry I haven't got my business cards ready just yet," Betty wrote down Jane and a non-existent number, and handed it to the pregnant woman.

"All the best with everything, and I hope I see you soon, maybe!" Betty waved, walked down the path and further down the street.

  
As she made sure she wasn't being watched, she unlocked her car, put her seatbelt on, turned the key in the ignition and did a u-turn to get out of the street.  
Betty couldn't breathe, her entire body was shaking. What the hell just happened?  
Sabrina was pregnant. And she's saying it was her first? 

If she had to put how she was feeling into words; Pissed off didn't even begin to describe it. All she could think about was Juliet. Jughead said that he would never let Sabrina into their lives again - but the fact that Sabrina didn't even acknowledge her real first born. Betty couldn't even begin to fathom. Her heart was hurting. But she knew she had to go home. It was getting late and she hadn't organized dinner yet. 

She entered her address and commenced the drive home.

 

*

 

Half an hour later, Betty was pulling into Pop's car park. She had decided on takeaway burgers, fries and of course a milkshake.   
As she waited for her order, she sat on one of the many bar stalls at the counter; she needed to tell Jughead. She wasn't sure how much she would tell him. But she couldn't keep this from him. 

The thought of how he would react brought immediate tears to eyes. 

Pop suddenly appeared with her takeaway order, "for you, Miss Betty," Betty nodded and thanked Pop, "I've even put a little dessert in there for you. You look like you need it."  
As she pulled up outside her apartment block, she looked up to the second floor and saw the lights were still on. The sooner the better, Betty thought. But first, she needed food.

It was about an hour after Betty had gotten home, the burger, fries and milkshake long gone. She looked at the dessert, but the thought of the conversation that may take place made it very unappealing. But bless Pop's cotton socks. He meant well.

 

**B - You busy? Can I come up for a bit?**

It was about 10 minutes later and Betty's phone buzzed.

**J - Nope, Jules has just gone down. Come up :)**

With keys in hand, she locked the door and made her way up to the second floor. She knocked softly on Jughead's front door. It was only a couple of minutes later, and the door opened. 

"Hey... this is a very nice surprise," he leant in and kissed her lips, "to what do I owe this pleasure? Come in. You'll have to excuse the mess... Jules went on a bit of a rampage earlier this evening."  Betty followed Jughead inside. Trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of stomach.

She betrayed him. And she was about to learn just how much she did. 

They sat on the couch, and Jughead reached his arm over her shoulders, and started to nuzzle her neck.  
Betty turned her head in, "Jug..." he started to gently kiss her exposed neck, "mmmm, yes Betts?" She sighed, it felt so damn good, his lips were so soft on her skin, "I have to tell you something." Jughead suddenly looked startled.

"Okay... that sounds serious.." he moved back slightly, "what's up?" 

Betty sighed, for what felt like the millionth time, "I'm a journalist, right?" Jughead nodded, "right..." Betty continued, "so, I have different instincts to other people-" her voice was shaky, "-I need to know things. And I want to know things, and sometimes, just sometimes, those lines get blurred."

Jughead furrowed his brows, _"okay."_  

Betty moved her hands to rest in her lap, "I can't leave questions unanswered, even if I don't get an answer, I still need to at least look for a reason or some kind of explanation," Betty's heart felt like it was about to beat right out of her chest, "-fuck."

"Betty. What's going on? What does any of this have to do with me? I know what you do for a living.." Jughead was confused.  
  
"I don't expect you to understand, not right away, but I just need you to know," Betty's breathing suddenly became shallow.

"Jesus, Betty. What?! Need to know what?" Jughead was facing Betty at this point, looking a little more frustrated with the conversation and the guess work.

"I had to know. About her." She watched him in her peripheral vision.

Jughead was suddenly up standing, his voice laced with anger, "Betty. What did you do?"

" _Jug, please._ You have to understand... I needed to know. Please." Betty was standing, trying to walk towards him, but he kept backing away.

"Shit, Betty. What the _fuck_ were you thinking? Wait. No, you know what, _don't even fucking answer that._ " He was spitting fire. The rage that was brewing inside was indescribable, "did you find her?"

Betty took too long to answer his question.  
"Betty. Did you find Sabrina? Answer me. **_NOW!_** " Jughead's voice was raised, not enough to wake Juliet, but enough to scare Betty.

".....Yes." Was all she could answer.

"You need to go, "Jughead stood at the other side of the small lounge room, "Now."

"Juggie... let me explain, please." Betty didn't know what she was meant to explain. She was an idiot. She should've left it. But no. She couldn't. It wasn't in her blood to leave things.

"Betty. _Leave_. I need you to go. Now." There was a finality in his tone that Betty couldn't argue with, "if you don't go, I swear, I'll say something I regret."

Betty nodded, as she sobbed, "okay."  
She slowly walked to the door, as she turned around, Jughead stood in the lounge room, "I wanted to do it for the both of you," Betty knew it was a futile effort, but she said it regardless. She had pretty much accepted that Jughead was going to want nothing to do with her. He didn't want Juliet exposed to someone like Betty.

"No, Betty. You did this for you." Jughead walked over to the door and closed it, leaving Betty in the hallway. 

She made her way to the stairwell and gingerly walked down to the first level, fumbling for her keys, she gained entrance to the apartment and locked the front door and made her way to bed. And it was going to be where she stayed for the next 48 hours. Shutting herself away from the mess she had created around her.

 

*

 

Wednesday had slowly rolled around.  
Betty woke and thought it was about time that she got up and showered. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and shuddered. She was basically carrying handbags under her eyes, between the lack of sleep and the constant tears - she wasn't the least bit surprised by her shitty appearance. She decided not to even think about the birds nest sitting on top of her head.

Betty also remembered it was Jughead and Juliet's treat night, and she had promised Juliet cookies. And nothing could beat homemade chocolate chip cookies. After her shower, Betty got dressed, jumped in the car and drove to the store. She bought all the ingredients that were needed, plus a few extra bits and pieces to stock up the sad and bare looking pantry and fridge.

It was a couple of hours later and her chocolate chip cookies were done. Well, extra chocolate chip cookies were. With an extra raspberry white chocolate batch for Jughead. Betty knew cookies weren't at all going to make up for her fuck up, but it was a small token.

Betty batched them in containers, labeling each container; one plain chocolate chip and other raspberry white chocolate. She jogged up the stairs, and straight away heard the unmistakable giggles of Juliet coming from behind the front door.

She placed the containers in front of the door, waited a few seconds. Knocked and ran down the stairs as fast as she could without falling and breaking a bone.

She didn't know how he would react to the cookies. Betty was hoping he would accept them. 

It was later that night and Betty's phone buzzed. She looked over and saw it was from Jughead. Betty swallowed hard. Petrified to open the message.

 

**J - why?**

Betty blinked. 

**B - why, what?**

**J - why the cookies, Betty?**

Her chest tightened. This was becoming too much of a regular occurrence. 

**B - Wednesday is treat day, and I promised Juliet cookies.**

**J - Okay.**

**B - Okay?**

**J - Yes, Betty. Okay.**  


Tears pricked in her eyes.  
She turned her phone off and tried to sleep.

 

*

 

The rest of the week went by in a haze. Betty had been trying to keep herself busy by getting things ready for her first week at the Register next week. She had an unhealthy obsession with stationary, so needless to say she had an absolute field day at the Officeworks in the next suburb over.

As Betty pulled up outside the apartment block, and retrieving her numerous amount of bags from the boot she heard the front door open to see Jughead and Juliet leaving. Jughead must've been going to work, and dropped Juliet off at his dad's for the evening.

" ** _BETTYYYY!"_** Juliet squealed as she leapt down the stairs to run over and greet her life size Elsa doll, wrapping her arms around her leg.  
Betty crouched down, "Hey Juliet.. how are you, little Princess?" 

“I'm going to Grandad's! He has ice cream!" Juliet reached up and played with Betty's hair, "I like your hair. It's beautiful."

"Okay, let's go, Jules. Daddy has to get to work." He walked over and gently touched Juliet's back.

"Bye Betty!!" All of a sudden, Juliet wrapped her arms around Betty's neck, "SQUEEZE!" 

"Cmon, Jules. We gotta go." He picked Juliet up and looked at Betty, "she's staying at her Grandad's tonight. You and I should probably talk. This little one has missed you, so." He shrugged, "I'll text you when I finish at work." 

"Okay." Betty nodded, "Bye Juliet, have fun at your Grandad's!" 

   
Jughead headed off down the street, with Juliet holding onto his shoulder waving at Betty.  
Betty returned her wave and blew a kiss, which Juliet knew to catch.  


It was just after 9PM when Jughead texted Betty to let her know he was leaving work and he'd be there in 20 minutes.  
Betty organized the coffee machine, on the off chance he wanted coffee. There was snacks, if he was hungry as well.  
She did a quick clean up of the lounge room and the kitchen. The 20 minutes flew by, as the knock on the door startled the life out of her.

 Betty walked over to the front door, took a deep breath and opened up to Jughead waiting for her on the other side, “Hi Jughead,” she gave him a smile, “Come in, I have coffee and snacks, if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, Betty, but I’m fine. I just came here to talk. Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah?” Jughead sat down on the couch and looked at Betty, “Come, sit. Let’s talk.”

Betty nodded, and sat on the opposite end of the small couch, which suddenly felt a lot smaller then usual.  
“I wanna be honest with you, Betty. What you did was wrong. So fucking wrong. I don’t even know where to begin. You know what you did was wrong, but you still did it-“

“Jug-“ Betty interrupted.

Jughead put his hand up, “No, Betty, let me finish. I don’t wanna know what you found, or where she is. I don’t care. I don’t want to know. Juliet deserves better than that-“ He sounded like he choked up, “Jules missed you. It’s only been a few god damn days, but she’s missed you. I want my little girl to be happy. And you make her happy. You’re her giant Elsa,” He rubbed his palms on his work pants, “I missed you.”

Betty could feel the tears prick her eyes, “I missed you too, Juggie,” She reached over and softly stroked his cheek, “I’m sorry. I fucked up. I really fucked up,” She chewed her bottom lip, leant over and kissed the corner of his mouth.  
  
He turned his head and looked deep into Betty’s eyes, “I’m falling for you, Betty Cooper.”  
Betty sighed, “Ditto, Jughead Jones.”

Jughead reached over, rubbing his thumb over her bottom up; Betty practically whimpered, “Kiss me, Jug. Please. Take my breath away,” Jughead nodded, “Not here though.” Betty reached for Jughead’s hand and walked to her bedroom, with Jughead closely behind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read A LOT of angst, but it's hard to write.  
> There's a part of me that isn't 100% happy with this.  
> Please leave comments... :) xxx


	8. eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter here. But it’s basically smut. -shrug-  
> Only a couple of more chapters left!

 

_Jughead reached over, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip; Betty practically whimpered, “Kiss me, Jug. Please. Take my breath away,” Jughead nodded, “Not here though.” Betty reached for Jughead’s hand and walked to her bedroom, with Jughead closely behind._

_\--_

Betty walked into her bedroom, over to the bedside table and turned the lamp on. She signaled for Jughead to turn the main bedroom light off. He did so without taking his eyes off the beautiful blonde woman standing in front of him.

Betty slowly made her toward her bed until she felt the back of her legs hit the edge. She sat down and with her hands behind her, she edged toward the middle of the bed.

"Juggie, are you just going to stand there or-" before she could even finish her question, Jughead was on top of her. His mouth seeking hers, his tongue ever so lightly biting and tugging at her bottom lip. Betty's hands were fisting Jughead's raven unruly hair as she arched her back toward his body, until she was flush against him. 

Jughead's tongue was searching every possible millimetre of Betty's mouth; with her tongue massaging his. He pulled back, much to Betty's dismay and displeasure, and moved his thumb to under her chin, pushing her face up to allow full unadulterated access to her neck. He started off with soft slow kisses, but with Betty's bucking to him, it quickly turned into vicious sucking and licking all over, right down to her collar bone.

Betty was whimpering, which made Jughead unsure how long he could actually last. He moved his legs to the outer of her thighs, and pulled her up to meet his face. His mouth crashed into hers yet again, his length becoming increasingly uncomfortable in his work pants. He lifted the hem of Betty's sweater and proceeded to pull it over her head and was greeted with a sexy black bra.

"Fuck, Betts," Jughead groaned, "you're going to kill me. I feel like a 16 year old boy right now," Betty giggled.

He reached around and unclipped her bra, throwing the offensive material to the floor along with the sweater. Betty looked at him, her eyes a dark shade of emerald. He reached up and palmed her breasts, the sound the left Betty's mouth was almost enough to make him lose control right there and then. He leant over and gently bit her left nipple, with his right hand fondling and flicking the right nipple. "I wouldn't want the other to get jealous now," he mumbled between sucking on Betty's breast.

Jughead could almost feel Betty's wetness through her panties, her jeans and his clothing as well, she whimpered, "Jug, you feel hard. I need to touch it, please..." Betty was almost begging for him.

"Shh, Betty. I'm not done with you yet," he pushed her backwards and undid the button on her jeans, unzipped the zipper and pulled her jeans down her thighs, where Jughead had to stop and catch his breathe, "you're not wearing panties..." he looked up and saw the mischief in Betty's eyes, "fucken..." he pulled her jeans down the rest of the way and threw them across the room.

Betty was whining, "I need you to touch me, Jug, please for the love of everything, touch me!" His hands made their up her legs and spread her knees apart, but before he could do that, he unzipped his white work pants and pushed them down, he groaned, relief, finally. He wrapped his hand around his length and as he started kissing up Betty's inner thigh, he rubbed himself, slowly. 

His groaning was vibrating up her thighs and she was squirming, "Juggie, are you touching yourself?" She managed to get out between her gasps and whines. Jughead didn't think he had to actually answer, but he nodded anyway. He could see her wetness. It was dripping, and it was all for him. Jughead suddenly picked up with the pace with his own fondling. 

Betty looked like she was about to slam her centre into Jughead's face; but before she even had time to register, his tongue entered her wetness and Betty squealed Jughead's name. As he removed his hand from himself, he reached for her clit, and starting rubbing her gently at first, but he needed to hear more, increasing his rubbing speed, the moans coming from her mouth were nothing short of sensual.  
It's noises that he would never ever tire of hearing.

It was only a matter of a couple of more minutes before Betty was reaching her high and letting go of herself and any insecurities she had. Jughead continued to lick her centre as she slowly came down.  
Betty suddenly reached for Jughead and pulled him up so he was flush against her, she whispered in his ear, "it hardly seems fair that I'm naked, and you're still fully clothed..." as she slowly began undoing his shirt. Jughead stood up and continued to unbutton his shirt and throw it away, and finally stepped out of his pants and pulling down his boxers, not realizing the sigh of relief he had let out.

As he stood at the side of the bed, Betty sat up and scooted to the edge of her bed, and put her hands on Jughead's ass cheeks and moved him forward, "it's my turn now, Juggie," as she leant forward and starting to slowly lick his head, his hands reached for her hair and pulled it, as she licked her way from the base of his cock to the very tip.

"Ugh, Betts... yes.." he groaned, as her mouth slipped over his head and slowly starting sliding up and down, using her hand at this same time. With one hand in her hair, and the other palming her breast, the vibrations of her moans on his dick were almost enough to send him over the edge. In an embarrassingly quick fashion.

Without warning, he pulled her mouth from his cock, "Jug, what are you doing? I wasn't done," and she went to move back to her previous position, "no, you are, Betty, I don't want to cum in your mouth... I want to make love to you..." he pushed her backwards on the bed, she suddenly put one finger up and reached into the bedside table and fumbled with a new condom box and ripped one of squares off and handed it to him, she grinned, "good thinking, 99!"

He opened the wrapper and rolled the condom down his length and climbed on top of Betty, "you sure you wanna do this, Betty?" She giggled, "Jug, babe, it's a bit late for that now. You've gone down on me already, and you've been in my mouth.. of course I wanna do this," her hips reached for him, he centered himself, and with one thrust, he was lost.

Betty wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him to go harder and faster. Which Jughead didn't need to be told twice. Betty reached between them and starting rubbing her already sensitive bud,  "fuck, Juggie... harder please!" He repositioned himself to his knees, brought Betty's legs to his shoulders and held her waist, pumping harder and faster until he felt her walls shuddering around him, and her legs tightening around his neck, her back arched, and it was as soon as his new nickname left her mouth, his release followed. Time stood still for those few moments. There wasn't a thing in the world that could touch them, or hurt either of them.

He lowered Betty's legs from his shoulders, and slowly pulled out. Betty shivered from the sudden emptiness she felt. He swung his legs off the side of the her bed, and removed the condom. He turned around and Betty pointed to the little trash can beside her bedside table. Jughead shivered as he threw the used condom in the bin.

Betty moved over on the bed, and Jughead snuck in near her, lifting his arm as to invite her to snuggle in.

"Jesus, Jug.. that was," Betty sighed, "I don't think I've actually ever had sex that good before." She traced an infinity symbol on Jughead's stomach. Before trailing his snail trail. He stomach squirmed at the feeling.

"You ever been in love, Betty?" He questioned. And, It's a question that has the tendency to make the the person asking it, immediately regret it.  
But not Jughead.

Betty sighed, and smiled into Jughead's neck, "I can confidently say no. I haven't been in love, because if I had been in love before, I would've experienced sex like that..." she trailed off.

Jughead could feel his heart pounding in his chest, "ditto, Betty Cooper, ditto."

  
As the night sky swept over Riverdale, Betty and Jughead fell into a deep slumber.  
Both thinking about the next step. But both of them knew it wasn't a conversation for tonight.  
Maybe tomorrow. But definitely not tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are ALWAYS welcome here. xx
> 
> catch me on tumblr ~  
> sweaters-and-crowns


	9. nine

 

 

It was the following Monday morning, and Betty was scurrying around trying to get her things together for her first official day at The Riverdale Register.  
After Saturday night, Betty had been floating. She had never had this feeling before. The feeling of being complete, the feeling of finding home, being comfortable. It was new to her. If she was going to be honest, she had actually forgotten that she was starting work the very next business day.

After drinking the last remaining mouthfuls of her now cold coffee, and finishing her muesli bar, Betty was out the door. She figured she was going to need to work on her morning routine, that's for sure. Already anticipating her stomach grumbling at 10AM.

As Betty made her way down to her car, she couldn't help but feel a set of eyes watching her. She stood up and looked directly up at the window on the second floor, and saw a little pair of eyes eagerly watching her, and a little hand waving furiously.  
Betty giggled, and waved back at Juliet. God, she was freaking adorable.   
Betty wondered what it would be like for Jughead; if they became official - would she be Juliet's step-mum? They hadn't had the conversation yet. But there wasn't a whole lot of talking happening on Saturday night.

Betty bit her lip at the very memory of her hand tugging at his hair, as his tongue explored between her legs.  
 _'Oh, god, Elizabeth. Stop!'_ She scaulded herself.  
Betty looked at the time on her phone, _'Oh, fuck fuck!'_ She quickly turned around and waved again at Juliet and walked around to climb into her car.

\----

The day had gone relatively quickly. It was really just a day of learning the ins and outs of the paper. Her and Nancy had done a few business introductions; they went really well. It was obviously helped by the fact that Nancy absolutely raved about Betty. She had actually lost track of the amount of times she had blushed. But, it's definitely something she could get used to.   
If Nancy believed in Betty; the Riverdale community would believe in Betty too.

 

The drive from the office to home was quick. And it was definitely hands down so much better than commuting in New York. That, Betty was 100% sure of.  
As she gathered her things from the car, and made her way to the front door, her phone buzzed in her bag. She got inside, and dropped everything on the floor. It wasn't even 6:30PM and Betty just wanted a hot shower and bed. But that was silly, she needed to at least eat something first. And due to her extreme level of laziness, she retrieved a frozen meal from the freezer and put in the microwave for eight minutes. Her phone again buzzed as a reminder that she had an unread message.

**J - how was the first day of work? :)**

Betty smiled.

**B - It was really great, but I am exhausted! I think maybe the weekend has caught up to me.....**

**J - oh, yeah? What happened on your weekend? Sounds like it was eventful.**

Betty giggled; very similar to a high school girl giggle in fact. Difference was, Betty was almost 30 years old.

**B - very eventful, and one might say physical as well. ;)**

**J - sounds interesting... I'd love to know more. But my little sass queen is turning into a tired dinosaur, at least, that's what sounds like right now. I'm surprised you can't hear it from downstairs.**

**B - I'll discuss it with you in detail, very soon, I hope. I'll be having a hot shower later, so.... and, nope, I cannot hear your little dinosaur, I do have the microwave going, so maybe that's why.**

**J - well, fuck.**

Uh oh.  
Betty watched the dancing dots.

**J - you'll have to describe your shower to me later, please? I won't be able to sleep....**

**B - in great detail.**

Betty could feel the heat between her legs.

**J - I'll expect nothing less. ;) oh, and before I forget; Wednesday night, we're having Mexican food... it would be great if you'd come along.**

**B - you had me at Mexican food, Jug. Tell me what time and if I need to bring anything. :)**

**J - 5:30PM, and just your-sexy-self, please. Oh, and some pyjamas. I'm not letting you leave my apartment this time.**

**B - yes, sir. *tips hat***

**J - you're a dork lol. Go for your shower and message me the details later.**

 

*

 

It was Wednesday evening, and Betty was getting her things ready for her sleepover at Jughead's.  
Pajamas, toothbrush, makeup, her soy milk, and clothes for tomorrow. Even though she could just go to her apartment the next morning; it kinda ruins the idea of a sleepover, really.

Betty zipped her overnight bag up, made sure everything was turned off and walked upstairs. She could hear Juliet playing inside. Betty knocked on the door, and could hear Juliet yelling out to her dad, "yes, Jules, I have ears, I heard. You don't need to yell," followed by, "I'm not lelling, daddy!" Which sounded like it was coming from the very top of her lungs.

Jughead opened the door, to a smiling Betty.  
"I could get used to opening my door to you," he leant in and kissed Betty gently on the lips, "I've missed you," he whispered in her ear.

"I've missed you too, Juggie," as she cupped his face, "so much," she could see his sharp inhale, and she giggled, "now, where's this little sass queen I keep hearing about?" Betty asked as she made her way the lounge room.

All of a sudden, Juliet jumped out from behind the couch, and with an almighty squeal, "HERE I AM, BETTY!" Betty laughed, "oh, there she is!" Juliet ran over and reached her arms up, waiting for Betty to pick her up, which she didn't even need to think twice about, Betty reached under her arms and picked her up.

Juliet giggled, and wrapped her legs around Betty's waist, "hey, Jug! It would appear to be that your daughter, aka, sass queen has turned into a koala, were you aware of this?"

"I'm not a koala! I'm Juliet Mary Jones! Silly Betty." Betty couldn't argue, as the little girl wiggled her down to the ground.

Betty couldn't help but notice how natural this all felt. Especially with Juliet. Betty had been upfront with Jughead; telling him she had little to no experience with children. But Juliet made it easy.  
She was so easy going. And she was so damn cute. Betty couldn't help but think about the future.  
But there was a lot to talk about before any future talk happened.

\---

Dinner was messy.  
Even thought it was just pizza; Juliet liked to pick all of the toppings off, eat half of the base and she would be done. It was cute. Messy, but cute.  
Jughead announced that it was time for Juliet to get ready for bed; "say goodnight to Betty, please. We'll go brush your teeth, your hair, have some milk, read a book and bed, okay?"  
Juliet ran over to Betty on the couch, climbed up next to her and wrapped her little arms around her neck, "SQUEEZE! Goodnight Betty! See you in the morning!" Juliet gave her a kiss on the cheek and bounded down the hallway to her father.

The happiness she was feeling was indescribable. Her heart wanted to just explode. She wanted to cry happy tears. She wanted to scream.  
Instead, she had to make do with finding Jughead's room; which wasn't hard due to it being pretty much an identical lay out to her own apartment.  
She found the overnight bag that he had moved to his room, and proceeded to get changed into her pajamas. As much as she wanted hanky panky this evening, Aunt Flow arrived just this afternoon. Betty was hoping he would be okay with some kisses and snuggles.

Betty crawled into Jughead's bed and climbed under the covers, and starting scrolling through Facebook. She heard Jughead shuffling around outside, turning light switches off and making sure the front door was locked, he made his way to the bedroom and grinned when he saw Betty in his bed.

"Now, this is definitely a sight I could get used to," he grinned, and crawled onto his bed and situated himself over Betty and the covers. He was peppering her face and neck with featherlight kisses.  
Betty sighed, "you should stop," as her hands went to his chest, "we can't," and she looked into his eyes, hoping she didn't have to explain.

"Oh, I see. Say no more," he laughed, "you can say it, Betts. I might be male, but I'm also not a 16 year old who's grossed out by the word 'period' - I have a daughter, I'll have to explain it to her someday-"

"-or maybe I could," Betty interrupted.

Jughead turned around, as he removed his shirt, "maybe you could, babe.."

Betty looked down and fidgeted with her hands.

"Listen, Betty," Jughead crawled into bed, "I was thinking, maybe, this weekend or next weekend, no hurry, I was going to go have dinner with dad, and was wondering if maybe you'd like to come with Juliet and I?" He reached over and pulled her hair tie out, "I mean, it's kind of a big step, meeting the parents, or in my case, my dad, but I dunno. I just feel like it's right. Or I could be talking rub-"

Betty planted a kiss on Jughead's mouth, "I'd absolutely love to meet your dad, if you want me to meet him, I'd love to."

Jughead smiled, "I would love dad to meet my, ahhh, girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend sounds pretty funny for a 30 year old woman, but I'll take it." Betty laughed, "boyfriend is the same, I guess."

Betty yawned, "I'm tired, Juggie."

Jughead leant over and switched the lamp off, he laid down and reached for Betty to cuddle in with him.

If you had asked Betty a couple of months ago if she'd be snuggled in bed with a man she met in a coffee shop, who also happened to live in an apartment above hers, and happened to have a two and half year old daughter, she would've laughed at you.

But here they were.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, fluff, fluff.
> 
> I couldn't help but slip in a couple of stupid things I say in everyday life. :)
> 
> One more to go, fam.  
> Thank you so much to everyone that has read my fic; kudos and comments.  
> It absolutely means the world to me. xxx


	10. ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His eyes were the eyes she wanted to have see her at her best, her worst, her highest and her lowest.  
> And most of all, his eyes were the eyes she loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one, guys.  
> I absolutely cannot thank everyone enough for your encouraging comments (here and on Tumblr) - seeing as this all originated from a little prompt request....  
> It's been a quick story; I think I started it maybe two weeks ago? And here we are, at the end.  
> I had so much fun writing it.   
> It was fluff, angst with a bit of smutty smut.
> 
> But seriously. Thank you so so much. xx

 

Following their conversation the previous weekend; Betty was putting together her final touches for her dinner with Jughead, Juliet and his dad, FP.   
The nerves were kicking in; and she was slightly petrified.  
Petrified of judgement.  
Jughead had told her that she would be the first girl since Sabrina to have been introduced to his father.  
How do you tell your boyfriends father that you won't run out on him and his young daughter? How do you tell him that you're falling for his son? How do you tell him that you're in so deep, you can barely breath? How do you describe that to their loved ones having only known him for just a few weeks?

You don't. You tell them nothing.

Betty opted for jeans, sweater and a pair of ballet flats. Matched with natural makeup and soft waves. Similar to their first 'date' at Pop's.

She was suddenly dragged from her thoughts after there was some light knocking on her door, followed by Juliet squealing knock knock and calling out Betty's name. To which Jughead followed up with telling Juliet to use her 'inside voice' - Betty giggled.  
Doing the final checks, she took one big breathe and walked to the front door, and opened it to an incredibly handsome Jughead and an even cuter Juliet.

Betty crouched down to Juliet's level, "hey Jules... how's my little princess today?"

"Good! We're going to Grandad's!" Juliet excitably announced.

"Yes, we are. Can I come with you? Would that be okay?" Betty asked the little girl.

"Of course," Juliet grabbed Betty's hand, almost pulling Betty over from her crouched position, "come, let's go Betty!"

Betty held Juliet's hand tightly, and looked back at Jughead to which his reply was a simple shrug and an ear to ear smile.

  
By the time they all arrived at FP's trailer, Betty was puffed and felt exhausted, "god, Juggie, she's a ball of energy! How do you keep up?" She exhaled.

"Ha, Betts. I have a little bit of experience keeping up with her. You'll get used to it, I promise," he gave Betty a soft kiss on her forehead.

Juliet bounded up the stairs of the rundown trailer and knocked on the front door. A couple of minutes later, the door opened to an older version of Jughead. There was no mistaking him.  
He leant over and picked Juliet up in one swift motion. Her arms wrapped around her neck, repeating Grandad, over and over.

FP looked over at Jughead and gave him a soft fatherly smile, along with a quick nod.

"Cmon, lets go inside, I am starving!" Jughead grabbed Betty's hand and pulled her towards the trailer.

They walked in, with Jughead not letting go of Betty's hand. He could feel that she was nervous. He could feel her shaking. He wrapped his arm around her waist, "hey, it's ok. FP is going to love you. Hopefully not as much as me-" he suddenly stopped, as he felt Betty still, "I, uh," Jughead couldn't find any words.

He was grateful for the sudden distraction of Juliet running up to him and unknowingly punching him in the balls. He groaned in pain and immediately went to seek refuge on the couch.  
Juliet looked frightened after her dad's reaction. Betty could see the tears welling up in her eyes, "oh no no, Jules, baby girl, it's okay. Don't cry," Betty leant down and picked her up in her arms, "shhh, it's okay, it's okay, daddy is just in a little bit of pain, should we go give him a cuddle?" Betty stroked her hair, as Juliet quietly sobbed and nodded on her shoulder.

Betty carried Juliet over and sat on the couch next to Jughead, "sorry, daddy.." Juliet whimpered.  
"It's alright, bubs.. can I have a cuddle, please?" Jughead reached around for his daughter, who immediately leaped into his lap. Betty smiled, before feeling eyes on her.

She looked up and stood up from the couch, "Hi Mr Jones, my name is Betty, it's lovely to meet you," she reached out for a handshake, but FP waved her hand away, and went in for a hug. Betty was slightly taken aback, but returned the hug briefly, and they pulled apart, "Please, Betty, call me FP. Mr Jones makes me sound old, and yes, I realize, I'm a grandad," He laughed, "dinner is almost ready, guys. Jug, can you set the table please."

  
Dinner went smoothly. They laughed, Betty shared her reasons for her move to Riverdale, which impressed FP greatly. Juliet threw her brussel sprouts across the room, but happily ate the roast lamb and carrots & broccoli, Jughead reminding her the vegetables make her big and strong. And that if she asks nicely, she'll likely get ice cream for dessert.

The trio plus Juliet ate their ice cream and retreated to the lounge room, where Juliet started to yawn and getting just a tad grumpy, Jughead took that as their sign, he m stood up and announced that it was probably time to go.

FP offered to keep Juliet for the night, "she's already tired Jug, its fine. You can come and get her in the morning. You two go home and enjoy a kid free evening," he smiled and nodded at the loved up pair.

"Thanks, Dad," Jughead gave his father the manliest of hugs, "I'll get her in the morning, just send me a text when you're sick of her."   
FP laughed, "Never, Jug. She's my princess," he looked toward Betty, "Jug, can you wait outside? I just wanna have a quick chat with your lady," FP raised his eyebrows, to which Jughead shrugged, went over and gave Juliet a kiss and whispered in her ear, and a hug before going outside.

"You love him, don't you?" FP didn't believe in beating around the bush, "you don't have to answer, because you may not know yourself, but... I can tell. And he feels the same way," he gave her a fatherly look, "if he hurts you, or shuts down or pulls away, you tell me, okay Betty?"

Betty nodded, "I should go," she walked over to Juliet, "goodnight Jules. I'll see you tomorrow morning?" Juliet sleepily nodded, Betty gave her a soft kiss, and walked towards the door to leave the trailer, "night FP. It was nice to meet you," and left.

  
Betty and Jughead walked back to their apartment block in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable but it wasn't the simple silence they had before. And Betty knew why. He had said he loved her, and she said nothing in response. Mainly because she didn't think he'd make that confession in his fathers trailer, and say it so damn casually.  
Betty had never told anyone she loved them before; or heard it said to her. She wasn't expecting fireworks, or 'I love you's followed by a kiss with her right foot in the air, but definitely not the way that Jughead may or may not have confessed his love for her.

They got to the front of the building, and both walked to Betty's front door.  
She got her keys out, unlocked the door and pushed it open. Betty turned around, and grabbed both of Jughead's hands, "You should come inside, Jug. Please." Betty smiled.

"Ah, yeah sure," Jughead nodded and followed Betty inside.

"Drink? Coffee, tea, water, wine?" She was nervous and this is what she did when she was nervous. Waffled on, offering anything and everything.

"No, I'm okay, thanks though," he cleared his throat, "Betts, can you come sit down please? You're making me nervous."

"Oh, sure yeah okay," Betty walked over, grabbed the tv remove and sat down next to him on the couch, "do you wanna watch anything?" As she flicked through Netflix.

"I'm sorry for what I said at the trailer," Jughead suddenly confessed, "I don't know what came over me, Betts. I'm sorry. I just-" Betty was on his lap, with her mouth on his, "shhh, Jug, kiss me." And that's exactly what Jughead did. His mouth taking all of her, his tongue exploring all of her mouth.

She pulled away, breaking their passion.  
Looking at his stormy blue eyes. It was in that very moment; she knew. His eyes were the eyes she wanted to wake up to for the rest of her life.  
His eyes were the eyes she wanted to look into when they made love.  
His eyes were the eyes she wanted to look into when they fought.  
His eyes were the eyes she wanted to have see her at her best, her worst, her highest and her lowest.  
And most of all, his eyes were the eyes she loved.

"I love you too, Jughead." She smiled, as his eyes looked relieved, "I sure fucking hope you meant it in the trailer," Betty raised her eyebrows.

"Never a doubt in my mind, Betty." He replied, as he picked Betty up and carried her to her bedroom.

The night was filled with I love you's, gasping, heavy breathing, whimpering, sweat, tears and multiple orgasms.  
Having sex had never been as good as it was with Jughead Jones.  
It was this kind of intimacy that Betty had longed and craved for her entire adult life.  
And here it was. In front of her. As he lay sleeping next to her, his arm draped over her waist, and her leg resting of his leg. Betty knew that this feeling, this love, was the feeling the people spent their entire lives searching for.  
Betty knew how god damn lucky she was that she managed to find out, without even actually looking for it.

Tonight, she also knew, their relationship changed.  
What did it mean for Juliet? Betty wasn't sure.  
But in her head and her heart; Betty hoped that maybe, just maybe, Juliet would one day call her mum.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts...
> 
> Ideas for another multi chapter, or maybe you wanna see a request come to life?  
> Follow me on Tumblr -  
> sweaters-and-crowns

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr - @sweaters-and-crowns


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